Lolita's most striking feature, and the main reason for its staying power, is Humbert Humbert's astonishing, complex, and enchanting prose. Humbert distracts the reader from his bad actions, as a pedophile, with his beautiful words. It goes beyond ordinary beauty; his constant word and verbal play forces the reader to focus on the language rather than on him. With his ability to enchant words and wordplay, he develops the ability to freeze time and, in turn, freeze Lolita in her "nymphet" state. When Humbert describes Lolita playing tennis in great detail, he manages to imprison her in an endless nymphet state. Each time he revisits her through prose, he is able to maintain that nymphet state in his memory. Humbert writes Lolita in a prison cell as evidence in his defense; on trial for the murder of Clare Quilty, a famous playwright. Humbert occasionally addresses the reader as "ladies and gentlemen of the jury" or some sarcastic equivalent, and this reminds us of the basic situation. His confession quickly reveals a different crime: that for many years he had manipulated and sexually abused a young girl, Dolores Haze, "Lolita". He claimed he killed Clare Quilty in revenge for having estranged his child lover from him. As he finishes the manuscript, he decides to hold onto it until both he and Lolita are dead, claiming that he knows he could be imprisoned due to this lack of evidence. However, he dies of heart failure before the trial begins sadness or humiliation at his own actions, despises his own stupidity, and seems bluntly honest as he confesses to his seductions, lies, plans, and acts of murder. But he doesn't talk much about the murder. He is consumed by his sexual attraction Lolit... half the document... if the jurors can convict him, why shouldn't he play on their pity. He boasts of his ability to influence the feelings of his former doctors, psychiatrists, etc. and wives. Humbert's seduction increases; not only does he seduce various women and girls, but perhaps he also tries to seduce readers. He uses his words against the reader's integrity; what wonderful, influential and fascinating words they are. The accuracy of his images challenges our cynicism through the intense reality they evoke. The humor, irony, horror, and misery of the novel wear down our objectivity until we feel sympathy for Humbert's suffering. He wants to turn sympathy in one direction: to let him have his desire, his love. And in a way, that means allowing him to have Lolita in a sexual and textual way. Works Cited Lolita by Valdimir Nabokov